The United Kingdom has always been responsible for its actions and every other thing that it launches. Now, as bitcoin prices are declining very speedily, there is a lot of advertisement campaigns in the United States & London that says it is time to buy bitcoin. The United Kingdom advertising regulator has banned it because they are considered to be very irresponsible and misleading. LUNO, a cryptocurrency exchange service working in London, has been providing advertisements on the bus services of the United Kingdom. Its advertisement is in the form of a cartoon that shows a very popular trending line in the United Kingdom: if you see bitcoin on the underground, it’s time to buy. It is not at all a responsible action from the cryptocurrency exchange Agency of London, and therefore, it has been banned by the UK government.
The action came from the rules set by the advertising standards authority of the United Kingdom. On 26th May 2021, the advertisement shown based in London came into the eyes of the authority and therefore, they took strict action against it. The reason for banning such an advertisement is that it is completely irresponsible and does not show any risk factor associated with bitcoins. Due to the lack of information delivered by such advertisements, the United Kingdom government considered it illegal and inappropriate, which led to the ban of this particular advertisement based on the United Kingdom. It is not only the eyes of this watchdog that were lead on the advertisement, but several people complained about this to the government, and therefore, action was taken.
The advertisement based in the United Kingdom was seen because of a huge dip in bitcoin prices. Bitcoin prices collapsed by 30% a week ago, which created a panic among short-term bitcoin traders. The bitcoin traders who invested all their money into bitcoin when it was at the highest price are out of their pockets now.
Such a downfall in bitcoin prices took place in the cryptocurrency market after two weeks of a statement given by the Bank of England governor. He said that the cryptocurrency is a highly volatile asset and, therefore, it is not worth competing with the Fiat currency. The cryptocurrencies are not assuring you any kind of fixed income or return, and therefore, the investors must always be prepared to lose all their money.
Behind banning such an advertisement, the watchdog led a reason that it was misleading to the people. It failed to serve the proper information and could not illustrate the risk factor that comes with cryptocurrency trading and therefore was considered inappropriate for the general public. One among the people also said that the advertisement is misleading and takes advantage of the inexperience that many people possess about the cryptocurrencies and bitcoin market.
According to the reports on bitcoin traders, the ASA leads a public statement for the ban on such an advertisement. The association said that the statement which is provided in the ad – it’s time to buy, calls for action. It is simply a statement that gives the impression that it is the perfect time for people to invest their money in bitcoin and is a straightforward action without any risk factor.
Along with this, it also said that the bitcoin investment is no simple and sophisticated. It is considered one of the most complex and volatile investments, and the people who invest money into it without being aware of its losses may lose all of their income and savings. On the contrary, the advertisement given was simple and sophisticated and called for an action that was not acceptable to be launched in the common public.
The ASA played its part by banning the advertisement shown in the United States, and on the contrary, LUNO, an advertising agency in London, also played its part. It ensured that its future advertisements will definitely include warnings and make people aware that bitcoin prices are variable and can go up and low within a couple of seconds. The authority told the LUNO that it should also include the most important factor, indicating that the bitcoin market is highly volatile and not regulated.
